Miraculously coinciding with the unfortunate death of Senator Ted Kennedy is news from his publisher, Twelve, that the release date of Kennedy's memoir, True Compass, has been bumped from October to September. USA Today reports, "'We'd always hoped to publish earlier,' Cary Goldstein, spokesman for book publisher Twelve, said in an e-mail to us. 'The production process moved faster than expected, so we were able to shave off some time.'" Wow, what a coincidence!

Critical reaction to the video game adaptation of Grant Morrison and Dave McKean's Batman: Arkham Asylum is overwhelmingly positive. The game currently earns a score of 91 out of 100 at Metacritic.com.

A live-action film adaptation of Go Nagai's manga, The Abashiri Family, is in the works. While The Abashiri Family isn't known to most U.S. audiences, ask your neighborhood geek about Go Nagai's Devilman, Mazinger Z or Cutey Honey and they'll drool.

GalleySmith is planning a book bloggers convention for May 2010. As with every other book industry related event, potential participants have one question they need answered before committing: Will there be swag? Via.

Dan Brown has been named the Goodwill Ambassador to Goodwill stores. Okay, so that's bullsh*t, but a recent survey did reveal that the The Da Vinci Code author is Oxfam's most donated author, with John Grisham and Ian Ranking closing out the Top 3. Via.

The LATimes has a list of Obama's intended beach reads. Now you'll know what to carry around Martha's Vineyard while stalking him so that when you finally make it past the hordes of Secret Service and press, you can casually say, "Oh, what a coincidence -- I'm reading that book, too."

My favorite tip this week comes from the How Not to Write blog. It's a simple, sensible bit of advice that all successful writers have had to figure out for themselves at one time or another, and now you, you lucky sons and daughters of b**ches, are gonna have it handed to you on a pixelated platter: Commit to Finish. Commit to Begin Again.

Monday, August 24, 2009

1. Write a book.2. Start a TV show based on said book.3. Write more books.4. Garner awards and accolades across the globe.5. Become the un-official 'face' of your chosen profession.6. Have a fan write a bestselling book about their experiences reading your book.7. Die.8. Have a hit movie made about said fan's book.9. Allow hype to simmer for 3-4 weeks, or until its reach its boiling point...10. ...and voilà!

Would you stand in line for four hours just to have your great-grandmother's mildew covered copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin appraised at $1.99? The creators of a proposed "Antiques Roadshow for books, just books" hope so.

Award-winning author Margaret Atwood has joined the blogosphere. While Atwood currently shies away from talking about her cat's eccentricities, the new shoes she just bought, and/or her favorite sex scenes from this week's True Blood, give her time. She'll learn.

A new line of audiobooks "dedicated to famous 20th century books" will feature celebrity readers and academic audio commentary. The first release is Bette Friedan's The Feminine Mystique read by actress Parker "Party Girl" Posey, with additional audio analysis by Naomi "The Beauty Myth" Wolf. (TMI fun fact: I've had threesome fantasies involving this same duo!)

The English book dealer accused of stealing a Shakespeare portfolio valued at $2.5 million made his first appearance in court this past Friday. According to the Washington Times, "The defendant, Raymond Scott, arrived at the courthouse in a horse-drawn carriage, accompanied by a bagpipe player and wearing a tartan kilt." Please let CourtTV cover this case.

One small setback for Anna Nichole Smith's manager, Howard K. Stern, is one giant step for gay rights. This past Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin ruled that Stern could sue an Anna Nichole Smith biographer Rita Cosby for defamation -- but not over gay sex claims. The reason? Because homosexuality is no longer viewed as "contemptible." Allow me to repeat that for all the Far Right Republicans and holier than thou evangelicals in the audience: No. Longer. Contemptible. By law!